How does a person get HIV?

Answer

These are the main ways in which someone can become infected with HIV:

Having vaginal or anal sex without a condom with someone who is infected.

Having contact with the blood of someone who has HIV. This could be having a blood transfusion from someone who is infected with HIV

From a mother who has HIV to her baby: HIV can pass to the baby during pregnancy, during the birth of the baby, or through breast-feeding. Only about one in three babies born to HIV-positive mothers get HIV.

Receiving an injection from an unsterilized needle that was previously used by someone with HIV.